Graffic Traffic
True Summer-y Confessions
by Ryk McIntyre
Well, in my last column I accidentally said that “Baby Spice” was my favorite amongst the Spice Girls. What the hell was I thinking? Baby’s no U.N. Spokes-spice! She doesn’t have a PSG (post-Spice Girl) single a-wigglin’ up the charts! She’s no Ginger Spice!!! There. I’m glad I got that out. Sorry ’bout the stain. So, in so many words, here are the picks du jour… The first out of the alphabecritical gates are two offerings from America’s Best Comics, where Alan Moore has retired to live out his Golden Years (mmm-bop, bop…) playing with super-heroes again. First is Top Ten (art by Gene Ha & Zander Cannon) a sort of pan-dimensional Legion of Heroes that live in Neopolis, a pan-dimensional city (oddly enough) inhabited by the differently-abled. Lots of characters, lots of possibilities… y’know, should The Alan get stuck or something. And taking up the wondrous woman archetype, he offers us Promethea (art by the chosen J.H. Williams) which starts off right in the middle of a violent, passing-the-torch story, to the new Promethea from the soon-to-be Promethea Emeritus. It’s the power of imagination that fuels this character. Again, just sit back, see where the story goes, and enjoy the ride.
These next two mooks are all over the place, the result of a multi-media campaign that remains unassisted by the mainstream – MTV, VHl, Rolling Stone – that simply thrives on their own efforts, word-of-mouth, and the fact that some humans is just the craziest peoples. We present the Insane Clown Posse – The Ups and Downs of the Wicked Clowns (Chaos/ scrawled in the dirt by Jesse McCann/ drawn with his own body fluids by Reb). Here is written the whole fake origin of the two innocent (mmmph! hehehehehehe!) lads, their trials, their travails, their walking into a toxic waste tank so bad guys could trap them and fail to kill them, thereby guaranteeing an origin. It tries to encompass the whole shtick, including cosmic green-toned appearances by the Riddle Box, The RingMaster, The Great Milenko, etc, etc, ick. Here’s the deal – if you’re “down with the clownz” (you like ICP), then this comic is the shit; if you don’t like ICP, then the last 11 lines are wasted on you. And you suck.
Dark Horse Comics remains one of this column’s most faithful givers-of-the-free-stuff, and while there’s always something going on with their various licensed productions (exactly how many Star Wars mini-series and one-shots are there? And how many Aliens can dance on the head of a pin?), it’s always the “other” stuff that gives up the goodies. Featuring a tribute to that so-good-to-his-Mother-that-he-continued-to-live-with-her master of horror, H.P. Lovecraft, cometh Dark Horse Presents #142 (various creators). The black’n’white art lends to the creepy Gothic (and here I mean the 19th Century, not a bunch o’ pasty-pale Marilyn Manson fans) atmosphere. The best story is “The Bookroom Horror” (writ by Mike Mignola/drawn by Ryan Sook, who wishes he were Mr. Mignola), but they all give you that crawly feeling right behind the back of your neck. Adding to the always-growing Grendel Myths comes the latest mini-series Grendel – Devil Child (story by Diana Schutz/champion art by Tim Sale & Teddy Kristiansen) that tells more of the story of Stacy, the adopted daughter of Hunter (the first Grendel) Rose. Starting with her in therapy after the deaths of Grendel and Argent the Wolf (who was basically Stacy’s uncle), the story veers quickly to her marriage to her therapist and all the blood that follows. This is the good stuff.
We don’t get enough of Dan Brereton, I say. His singularly garish otherworldly painting style and fertile-as-grave-dirt imagination give us Giant Killer. It promises to be the Daikaiju (giant monster) Event for all time. First, a huge part of California becomes a toxic hell inhabited by larger-than-life otherworldly abominations (you can insert your favorite L.A. joke anytime you want), and the bio-engineered half-human hero grown to dispatch them. Toho Films should take this comic as a direct challenge and remake Destroy All Monsters for the ’90s (the ’00s?). And since you can’t tell the players without a program, Dan has kindly provided us with Giant Killer A-Z which lets you get to know each of the 26 monsters featured here. Except cross off Ig, who buys it in issue #1. Sorry, I thought you’d want to know.
It is with a sad sigh that we say good-bye to Resurrection Man, a series that deserved better, yet came to an end with issue 427 (DC Comics/Abnet & Lanning, over-looked writers/Jackson Guice, under-appreciated art). It does wrap-up the Vandal Savage/ Immortal Man/ Resurrection Man connection (or lack thereof), but I can still think of ten or twenty wastes of ink, words, and paper that should’ve bought it before this neat twist of a book. However, two of the supporting characters, the chick assassins with the hip, modern Grrl edge – Body Doubles, get their own mini-series. These two characters always helped to lighten the mood of R.M., even as they lessened the number of people still breathing in each issue.
From Wildstorm Comics (now a wholly owned DC subsidiary), the excellent (and seemingly everywhere) writing duo of Christopher Golden and Tom Sniegoski, together with art-warriors Joyce Chin, Trevor Scott, and Lucian Rizzo, brings us Night Tribes #1, a comic that would suck in lesser hands than these. Let me explain… This is the writing-duo that sent Marvel’s the Punisher to Hell, then brought him back (I bet they laughed when they thought that one up). The “night-tribe” concept allows them to unite rather different characters with a reasonable biding of one to the other. The inclusion of the Frankenstein Monster (can we say that without being sued? How ’bout “Vic Frank’s Patchwork man”?) is a neat tie-in that expands the scope of the story. Whoever is responsible must take a bow for the elemental creature K’runk. What the hell is it? Big as a dinosaur, moves like liquid through any Earth/stone/silica, and is a Jim Henson’s studio wet-dream with his gentle, friendly demeanor. Guys, consider cuddly-toy possibilities, maybe an interactive CD-ROM about geology (“Hey kids! Here we go through the molten planet-core! Wheeeeee!!!). Seriously, this is one kick-ass character. Also, there is an obnoxious spite, mercreatures, wickedemon-types and one pain-in-the-butt holdover from the Wetworks comic that talks gruff and carries guns, and bores the shit out of me, much like the Punisher used to, before two clever guys sent him to… Oh, Hell, maybe there is hope for this character in these guys’ hands.
From the puberty-rich imaginations that have always marked most Image Comics leaks Tellos (writ large, nay scribed, by Todd Dezago/rendered by Mike (I’m not that Ramos guy, but I’m trying) Wieringo). It’s got ever-little-thingy, my son – myth & magic, D & D, tiger-head pirates, lisping frog soldiers, and a babe with her tits all but hanging out.Which is why we need Kevin (Clerks, MallRats, Chasing Amy) Smith’s Oni Press. God bless the independent heart of every one of them. And such treats as The Adventures of Rheumy Peepers and Chunky Highlights. Written by Penn Jillette (as in “Penn & Teller”) it’s a place where trombone-player jokes, poker for pickles, masked men bearing $1,140.78 in plain envelopes, office sex, and Barvarian creme donuts all fuse together. Being that it’s Penn, there is a scam involved. Check your pockets when you’re done reading. Gas War is the latest in Matt Howarth’s Keif Llama sci-fi series, and, as ever, the magnificent line-work of Matt’s art does fine duet with his weirdo imagination. The digest formatted Oni Press Presents #12 gives us Clerks‘ Jay & Silent Bob doing a foul-mouthed, sodomy-joke-paved road down dynamic duo lane. Also Paul (Batman Adventures) Dini and Tom Fowler serve up “The Holy Rollers,” which is a trip… heh heh. Rounding-out the set is Grrl Scouts (a Jim Mahfood jam), which does an MTV-friendly, Tarantino-schooled thang for a girl trio who been down since diapers. Oh, and there’s a conspiracy, too. (By the way, notice how that “animation verté NYC” thing being promoted on MTV looks just like Jim’s stuff? Could he’ve broken the Big Time? I’ll get back to you on that). All in all, it’s counter-culture, face-stompin’ fun. So wear your best boots, and next time we’ll get together and see what we can scrape off.
